TORONTO — The Rams men's hockey team started the 2021-2022 season on a low note, battled back to contention, and then slowly crescendoed to the end of the regular season. In a sense, their 11-4-0 record is wholly representative of their performance this season; on the whole, they've been excellent, but a lengthy playoff run is far from a sure thing.

On Wednesday at 6 p.m., the Rams will host the Western Mustangs at the Mattamy Athletic Centre for a one-game first round of the OUA Queen's Cup playoffs. With 17 senior players departing the program at season's end, the Rams are expected to be hungry in what is likely their final competitive season with their current core.

"It's going to be exciting," Rams head coach Johnny Duco said of the playoffs following the team's final regular season game on Saturday. "We've got a lot of guys who are at the end of their track here, so I think it's going to be exciting and fun to watch."

As Western approaches, the Rams are sure to lean on their impressive rookie core—Chris Playfair (4 G, 7A ), Kyle Bollers (13 G, 11 A), Elijah Roberts (2 G, 7 A), Ryan Wells (3 G, 7 A), and Joe Rupoli (1 G, 4 A) among them—to supply the majority of their firepower, with Jacob Kamps (3 G, 2 A), Domenico Commisso (4 G, 3 A), and David Miller (7 G, 7 A) also expected to play contributing roles.

On paper, the Mustangs appear to be a favourable match for the Rams, seeing as their tepid 7-7-0 record and 48 goals allowed make them easy targets for the blue and gold's lethal offence. On their end, the Mustangs will likely rely on forwards Franco Sproviero (5 G, 6 A), Shane Bulitka (4 G, 6 A), and Sean Montgomery (3 G, 4 A) for offensive production, while continuing to run with the shaky goaltending pair of David Ovsjannikov (3.77 GAA, .882 save percentage, 3 W) and Dylan Myskiw (3.49 GAA, .887 save percentage, 2 W) in net. 

Historically speaking, the Rams have played to a record of 12-12 against the Mustangs, but have yet to play them this season due to COVID-induced divisional exclusivity. This matchup is the first time the two teams will meet since the Mustangs knocked the Rams out of playoff contention on February 23, 2020. 

"The margin for error is so small in the OUA playoffs that we're going to have to be sharp," Duco added, hinting at the team's early exits from the 2018-19 and 2019-20 playoffs.  

If the Rams are able to beat the Mustangs, they'll play in Round 2 of the Queen's Cup playoffs on Saturday, March 19 at home.